fanv 
1 2,mo 


uom  Kam   l^mo  m/v 


E  X  T  R  A  OT -C  J  &&*~* 

From  a  Sermon  preached  by  Bishop  Elliott,  on  the  IStaSeptemberi 
containing  a  tribute  to  the  Privates  of  the  CoSjj[ederqjteArmy. 


Proykkes.  Ch.  XXIV,  vv.  17-18.  "  Rejoice  not  when  thine  enemy  falleth,  and  let 
not  thiiie  hear!  be  glad  when  he  t^nrnbleih: 

"Lest  the  Lord  see  it,  and  it,  displease  hi  n  and  he  turn  away  his  wrath  from  him," 
*  *  *  *  -*  *  *  *  *  * 

We  have  been  gathered  together  to-day  by  a  proclamation  of  our 
President,  to  return  thanks  to  Almighty  God  for  a  series  of  brilliant  victo- 
ries won  by  our  gallant  soldiers  over  the  invaders  of  our  soil.  Most 
fervently  do  we  thank  Him  for  his  presence  with  us  upon  those  fields  of 
terrible  conflict,  for  the  skill  of  our  Commanding  generals,  for  the  heroism 
of  our  officers  of  every  grade,  for  the  valor  and  self- Sacrifice  of  our  soldiers, 
for  the  glorious  results  which  have  followed  upon  the  success  of  our  arms. 
Most  devoutly  do  we  praise  and  bless  His  holy  name,  this  day,  for  the 
deliverance  of  our  country  from  the  polluting  tread  of  the  enemy  and  for 
the  punishment  which  he  has  seen  fit  to  inflict  upon  those  who  vainly 
boasted  that  they  would  devour  us.  We  give  all  the  glory  to  Him,  while 
we  cannot  forget,  the  living  heroes  /whoso  inspired  courage  led  them  trium- 
phant over  fields  of  desperate  carnage,  nor  the  martyred  dead  who  have 
poured  out  the  gushing  tide  of  theiryoungand  noble  life-blood  for  the  sacred 
cause  wjiich  carried  them  to  the  battle-field.  But  battles,  at  last,  even  with 
all  the  dazzling  halo  which  surrounds  them, are  but  fields  of  slaughter,  unless 
made  illustrious  by  the  principles  fyhich  they  involved  or  by  the  spirit  which 
animated  and  ruled  over  them.  The  meeting  of  barbaric  hordes  upon  the 
fields  of  blood,  ofwhich  history  is?  full,  where  men  fought  with  the  instinct 
and  ferocity  of  beasts,  simply  for  hatred's  sake  or  the  love  of  war,  is 
disgusting  to  the  noble  mind,  and  carries  with  it  no  idea  save  that  of 
brutality.  We  could  not  thank  God  for  victories  such  as  those,  and  there- 
fore, in  keeping  this  Holy  Festival,  our  thankfulness  must  rest  more  upon 
the  cause  for  which  he  has  cabled  us  to  arms,  upon  the  spirit  Which  has 
accompanied  it,  and  upon  the  guardianship  which  he  has  established  over 
us,  than  upon  the  mere  triumphs  of  the  battle  field. 

We  do  not  place  our  cause  upon  the  highest  level  until  we  grasp  the  idea 
that  God  has  made  us  the  guardians  and  champions  of  a  people  whom  he 
is  preparing  for  his  own  purposes,  and  against  whom  the  whole  world  is 
banded.  '1  he  most  solemn  relation  upon  earth  is  that  between  parent  and 
child,  because  in  it  immortal  souls  are  committed  to  the  training  of  man 
not  only  for  time  but  for  eternity.  There  is  no  measure  to  its  sublimity, 
for  it  stretches  upwards  to  the  throne  of  God  and  links  us  with  immortality. 
We  tremble  when  we  meditate  upon  it  and  cry  for  Divine  help  when  we 
weigh  its  responsibilities.      What  shall  we  think,  then,  of  the  relation  which 


*  *  subsists  between  a  dominant  race,  professing  to  believe  in  God  and  to 
acknowledge  Christ,  ^nd  a  subject  race,  brought  from  their  distant  homos 
and  placed  under  its  charge  for  culture,  for  elevation,  and  for  salvation, 
and  while  so  placed  contributing  by  its  labor  to  the  welfare  and  corafortof 
the  world.  What  a  trust  from  God!  What  reliance  has  he  placed  upon 
our  faithfulness  and  our  integrity  !  What  a  sure  confidence  does  it  give  us 
in  his  protection  and  favor  !  His  divine  arrangements  are  placed  in  our 
keeping.  Will  he  not  preserve  them  ?  His  divine  purposes  seem  to  be 
intermingled  with  our  success.  Wrill  he  not  be  careful  to  give  us  that 
success,  and  just  in  the  way  that  he  shall  see  to  be  best  for  us?  llis 
purposes  are  yea  and  amen  in  Christ  Jesus  and  cannot  be  overturned  by 
man.  It  places  our  warfare  above  any  estimate  which  unspiritual  minds 
can  make  of  it.  While  many  other  motives  are  urging  us  to  the  battle 
field,  and  we  rush  forward  to  defend  our  liberties,  our  homes,  our  altars, 
God  is  super-adding  this  other  motive — the  secret  of  His  own  will — is 
making  it  to  produce  within  us.  unconsciously  perhaps  to  ourselves,  a 
power  which  is  irresistible.  Our  conscience  in  this  war  is  thus  made  right 
towards  God  and  towards  man  :  our  heart  is  filled  with  His  fear  and  llis 
love;  our  arm  is  nerved  with  almost  super-human  strength,  and  we  have 
reason  to  thank  him,  not  only  for  whatjie  has  done  for  us,  but  for  what 
hi'lias  restrained  us  from  doingfor  ourwlvcs  and  others  from  doing  for  us* 
This  noble  cause  has  made  him  our  guide  and  our  overruling  governor, 
and  we  are  moving  forward,  as  I  firmly  believe,  as  truly  under  his  direction, 
as  did  the  people  of  Israel  when  he  led  them  with  a  pillar  of  cloud  by  day 
and  of  fire  by  night. 

Next  to  the  cause  in  which  we  are  engaged,  we  have  to  thank  God  for 
the  spirit  of  bur  people  and  of  our  armies.  Such  a  contest,  as  this  which 
we  are  waging  could  never  have  been, carried  on  successfully  without  such 
an  entire  devotion  as  pervades  the  States  of  this  Confederacy.  Although 
shut  in  from  the  rest,  of  the  world,  and  deprived  of  all  our  accustomed 
luxuries,  and  many,  even,  of  our  comforts  ;  although  cut  off  from  inter- 
course with  those  we  love  in  foreign  lands,' many  of  whom  are  near  and 
dear  to  us;  although  forbidden  even  to  know  what  is  going  on  in  science 
or  literature,  or  art :  although  stripped  of  all  legitimate  commerce  and  trade: 
although,  in  Some  of  the  professions,  debarred  from  all  business  and  all 
means  of  profit:  although  left  with  the  ruling  product  of  the  country 
incapable  of  sale,  save  when  a  speculative  demand  within  our  own  borders 
may  arise  for  it,  there  is  yet  heard  no  murmuring,  no  complaint,  no  dis- 
affection, but  all  are  willing  to  bear  and  to  suffer  for  the  cause's  sake. 
God  has  given  us  a  willing  mind,  and  we  cheer  each  other  on  in  faith  and 
trustfulness.  And  not  only  to  the  sterner  sex  has  God  given  this  enduring 
temper,  but  the  attitude  of  woman  is  sublime.  Bearing  all  the  sacrifices 
of  which  I  have  just  spoken,  she  is  moreover  called  upon  to  suffer  in  her 


affections,  to  be  wounded  and  smitten  where  she  feels  deepest  and  most 
enduringly.  Man  goes  to  the  battle-field,  but  woman  sends  him  there,  even 
though  her  heart  strings  tremble  while  she  gives  the  farewell  kiss  and  the 
farewell  blessing.  Man  is  supported  by  the  necessity  of  movement,  by  the 
excitement  of  action,  by  the  hope  of  honor,  by  the  glory  of  conquest. 
"Woman  remains  at  home  to  suffer,  to  boar  the  cruel  torture  of  suspense', 
to  tremble  when  the  battle  has  been  fought  and  the  news  of  the  slaughter 
is  flashing  over  the  electric  wire,  to  know  that  defeat  will  cover  her  with 
dishonor  and  her  little  ones  with  ruin,  to  learn  that  the  husband  she 
doted  upon,  the  son  whom  she  cherished  in  her  bos<  m  and  upon  whom  she- 
never  let  the  wind  blow  too  rudely,  the  brother  with  whom  she  sported 
through  all  her  happy  days  of  childhood,  the  lover  to  whom  her  early  vows 
were  plighted,  has  died  upon  s<  d  e  distant  battle-field  and  lies  there  a 
mangled  corpse,  unknown  and  uncared  for,  never  to  be  seen  again  even  in 
death  Oh  :  those  fearful  lists  of  the  wounded  and  the  dead  !  How  care- 
less we  pass  them  over,  unless  our  own  loved  ones  happened  to  be  linked 
with  them  in  military  association,  and  yet  each  name  in  that  roll  of  slaughter 
carries  a  fatal  pang  to  some  woman's  In-art— some  noble,  devoted  woman's 
heart.  But  she  bears  it  all  and  bows  submissive  to  the  stroke.  "He  died 
for  the  cause.  He  perished  for  his  coifiitry.  I  would  not  b^e  it  other. 
wifee,  but  1  should  like  to  have  given  the  dying  boy  my  blessing,  th'e 
expiring  husband  my  last  kiss  of  affection,  the  bleeding  lover  the  comfort 
of  knowing  that  I  kneeled  beside  him."  This  is  the  daily  language  of 
woman  throughout  the  Confederacy,  and  whence  could  such  a  spirit  come 
but  from  God,  and  what  is  worthy  to  produce  it  but  some  cause  which  lies 
beyond  any  mere  human  estimate.  And  when  we  turn  to  our  armies,  truly 
these  victories  are  the  victories  of  the  privates.  God  forbid  that  I  should 
take  one  atom  of  honor  or  of  praise  from  those  who  led  our  hosts  upon 
those  days  of  glory— from  the  accomplished  and  skillful  Lee— the  admir- 
able Crichton  of  our  armies — from  the  God-fearing  and  indomnitable 
Jackson,  upon  whose  prayer-bedewed  banner  victory  seems  to  wait — from 
the  intrepid  Stuart,  whose  cavalry  charges  imitate  those  of  Murat,  from 
that  great  host  of  generals  who  swarm  around  our  country's  flag  as 
Napoleon's  Marshals  did  around  the  Imperial  Eagle,  but  nevertheless  our 
victories  are  the  victories  of  the  privates,  h  is  the  enthusiastic  dash  of 
their  onsets,  the  fearless  bravery  with  which  they  rush  even  to  the  cannon's 
mouth,  the  utter  recklessness  of  life,  if  so  be  that  its  sacrifice  may  only 
lead  to  victory,  the  heartfelt  impression  that  the  cause  is  the  cause  of  every 
man,  and  that  success  is  a  necessity.  What  intense  honor  do  I  feel  for 
the  private  soldier!  The  officers  may  have  motives  other  than  the  cause, 
the  private  soldier  can  have  none.  He  knows  that  his  valor  must  pass 
unnoticed,  save  in  the  narrow  circle  of  his  company  :  that  his  sacrifice  can 
bring  no  honor  to  his  name,  no  reputation  to  his  family:  that  if  he  sur- 


vives  he  lives  only  to  enter  upon  new  dangers  with  the  same  hopelessness 
of  distinction  ;  that  if  he  dies,  he  will  receive  nothing  but  an  unmarked 
grave,  and  yet  is  he  proud  to  do  h\s  duty  and  to  maintain  his  part  in  the 
destructive  conflict.  His  comrades  fall  around  him  thick  and  fast,  but 
with  a  sigh  and  tear  he  closes  his  ranks  and  presses  on  to  a  like  destiny. 
Truly  the  first  monument  which  oar  Confederacy  rears,  when  our  indepen- 
dence  shall  have  been  won.  should  be  a  lofty  shaft,  pure  and  spotless, 
bearing  this  inscription:'  ''To  the  unknown  and  onreoqrded  dead." 


iiK)i)iisgib!fltj  folr  HicioNj. 

O  Almighty  God,  the  Sovereign  Commander  of  all  the  world,  in  whose 
hand  is  power  and  might,  which  none  is  able  to  withstand  ;  we  bless  and 
magnify  Thy  great  and  glorious  name  for  thesof  happy  victories,  the  whole 
glory  whereof  we  do  ascribe  to  Thee,  who  art  the  only  giver  of  victory. 
And  we  beseech  Thee  give  us  grace  to  improve  these  great  mercies  to  Thy 
glory,  the  advancement  of  Thy  Gospel,  the  honor  of  our  country,  and  as 
much  as  in  us  lieth-to  the  good  <£all  mankind  And  we  beseech  Thee, 
give  us  such  a  sense  of  these  great  mercies  as  may  engage  us  to  a  true 
thankfulness,  such  as  may  appear  in  our  lives  by  an  humbly,  holy  and 
obedient  walking  before  Thee  all  our  days  ;  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord  ; 
to  whom  with  Thee  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  as  for  all  Thy  mercies,  so  in  par- 
ticular for  this  victory  and  deliverance,  be  all  glory  and  honor,  world 
without  end — Amen. 


Itootegibing  foir  ffeace  m\  jQiJibetynce  froty  our  £nehii$s. 

O,  Almighty  God,  who  art  a  strong  tower  of  defence  unto  Thy  servants 
against  the  face  of  their  enemies,  we  yield  Thee  praise  and  thanksgiving 
for  our  deliverance  from  those  great  apparent  dangers  wherewith  we  were 
compassed.  We  acknowledge  it  Thy  goodness  that  we  were  not  delivered 
over  as 'a  prey  unto  them  ;  beseeching  Thee  still  to  continue  such  Thy  mer- 
cies towards  us,  that  all  the  world  may  know  that  Thou  art  our  Saviour 
and  mighty  deliverer  5  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord — Amen. 


Selections  froh)  Jfoly  Scriptures,  qpptopriqie  foir  ibe  3)a{J. 

psalms,  130,  144,  146. 

2  CHRONICLES,   CHAPTER  20  to  V.   31. 
1  TIMOTHY,   CHAPTER  6.  to  V.  17. 


I 


Hollinger  Corp. 
PH8.5 


